Kukla's Korner Hockey

This was the state of the Vancouver Canucks in January and February, going into and coming out of the Olympic break. Beset by jitters, pressure, bad luck and injuries that led to too much ice time for the survivors, many of whom were in over their heads, theirs was a black hole that drew more and more of the troops into its vortex, dragging down even the best of them.

From Dec. 30 until March 6, John Tortorella’s team played 25 games and lost 20 of them, and at the end of that ordeal, the Canucks were, in every sense but mathematical, done for the season.

Repeat: Done.

And from the moment that fact became plain to all but the most delusional of loyalists, anything this team did the rest of the way should have been viewed with extreme suspicion.

That includes now, this confusing period in which the Canucks have won four out of seven, a thing that might be worth getting excited about if it happened, say, in the first round of the playoffs.